The 3-9 Gibson Southern Titans faced off against the 9-3 Washington Hatchets in a non-conference game on Tuesday the 21st.
“We have a great opportunity here, it would be great to go on the road and pick up a win against a 9-3 team that I don’t believe is that much more talented than our own,” head coach Kyle Runyan said.
Washington got off to a quick start, going up with 11-2 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. Runyan took a quick timeout after the flurry of points the Hatchets had put up so early in the game. The Titans would fight their way right back in the game with the first quarter ending with the Hatchets up with only 4 points, 20-16.
In the second quarter, Runyan would try a box and one zone defense that would hold the Hatchets to only 2 goals.
Halftime began with a score of 20-18, Hatchets up 2.
“The only thing we did really well on defense in the first half was blocking out, we really need to clean our defense up,” senior Adam May said.
Coming out of halftime, the Hatchets had figured out the box and one defense exposing what Runyan would later call a “lack of effort inside the paint.” The Hatchets would continue to expose the Titans throughout the third giving the Titans lots of ground to make up if they wanted to win. The third quarter ended with a score of 52-29 with the Hatchets up 23 points.
The Hatchets would once again outscore the Titans in the fourth quarter going up 28 points led by senior Grant Niehaus. The game would end with a final score of 66-38. The Hatchets got the win. Niehaus would end the game with 27 points, leading the Hatchets. Sophomore Kaden Hurless led the Titans with 14, followed by junior Preston Riggs and senior Aidan Neel with 7 each.
“Even with our multiple zones Niehaus, number 4, still probably dropped thirty points,” Runyan said. “It all comes down to toughness at that point, and we didn’t have it.”
Some felt that the reserves deserved more of a chance to give some much needed energy to the
game especially because of the large deficit. “I felt that, in the second half, the subs that came in really gave it their all and showed they have the ability to compete throughout the game,” junior Jacob Spindler said.
Washington out-rebounded Gibson Southern 32-13 and held Gibson Southern to 37 percent shooting on the night. This is the Titans 7th straight loss and the Titans now have a record of 3-10 on the season.